


High Wire

by gh0stberry



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, mentions of some bad family stuff, sleeping over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 15:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10126082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gh0stberry/pseuds/gh0stberry
Summary: He does not stop to really take in his surroundings until he smells the salt on the air, and when he looks up, the sky is even darker. It’s hard to tell the sand from the sea as he steps onto the beach below Yumenosaki. He knows that if Kanata is looking out the club room window right now he’d be spotted, but he doesn’t care. The familiarity of the sea is calming, and it’s dark enough that even Kanata could be mistaken.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i started this fic 7 months ago and i honestly never thought i'd see this day but an extra 3000 words and a weekend of crying later, here i am. thank you to kelly, for helping me through my mid-fic plot crisis, and also a thank you to dorothy and case for being the angst guinea pigs. i love u all
> 
> and this is my plea to happy elements: i know i took a lot of liberties with souma's family but please don't come for me with a souma's family event i'm begging u

Kaoru hates going home. It’s always a little bit harder to breathe, a little bit harder to stand up straight, a little bit harder to look people in the eyes and fake bravado as he talks.

Lying on his side, arms wrapped loosely around his knees, his father’s latest tirade rings in his ears. He feels like he’s suffocating. His mind goes in circles, reliving the harsh words that had bounced off the kitchen walls minutes before over and over. He bites his lip, almost hard enough to draw blood, and breathes fast. He won’t cry, he won’t let his father’s words affect him. What kind of idol is he, if he can’t even act well enough to pretend he’s fine? A shudder overtakes him; the kind of full body shudder usually reserved for winter days and haunted houses. He falls asleep to the echo of insults.

The next morning, it’s watery gray light seeping through the blinds that wakes Kaoru up. He rolls over, whole body aching as if last night’s fight had been physical, and sits up to push the shades aside. It takes a few moments of bewildered blinking for the sight before his eyes to click: slate gray clouds, heavy with unshed rain, spread out across the sky, all the way to the horizon. They blur together with the sea at the edge of town extend as far as he can see in every direction. They hang heavy with rain on the horizon, blurring with the sea at the edge of town.

Even with the cloud cover, it’s bright outside. Too bright. As soon as that occurs to him, Kaoru whips around, dread already boiling in the pit of his stomach. His digital alarm clock blinks cheerily at him from the bedside table. 10:24 a.m. Shit shit shit  _ shit _ . Kaoru lunges forward, legs tangling in his blankets, and crashes to the floor. He lays there for a moment, groaning and cursing himself.

Sure, Kaoru skips club meetings and unit practice all the time, but this is different. Class is a separate thing entirely. Kaoru’s stomach churns as he remembers the dark look on Kunugi’s face the last time he’d skipped class. He’d been called into the teacher’s office the next day, and, well, it hadn’t been pretty. He’d rather take his chances with Souma or Adonis and try to skip after school activities.

He pushes himself to his feet, scrambling toward his closet and throwing it open. The house is silent; he must be home alone. Despite this, panic sizzles along his nerves. The thought of the phone call that’s going to come tonight as soon as school ends makes him cringe. The thought of the fight it will spark when his father hears it makes him want to run away. So he throws off yesterday’s wrinkled school uniform and wriggles into the first things he finds: an old, faded gray t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans he doesn’t remember buying. Then he’s grabbing his phone off his bedside table and taking the stairs two at a time. The front door creaks behind him, but he does not stop to make sure it latches as he starts down the sidewalk.

Kaoru keeps his gait slow as he approaches the end of his street. If it looks like he’s hurrying, people will notice, and being recognized right now… well, it’s less than ideal.

By the time he reaches downtown, the initial panic has faded. He wanders aimlessly, popping into stores and arcades and cafes only long enough to people watch. The moment someone seems to be approaching him, he moves on to the next place.

He avoids the part of town where his father works and Yumenosaki, and pays no attention to his phone or the sky. It’s peaceful like this, alone in his own world. The only people around are office workers on break and small children with their babysitters, along with the occasional delinquent, but Kaoru can recognize those kinds of people; he avoids them.

For the most part, he walks without lifting his head from the pavement in front of him, letting his feet guide him. On the off chance there  _ is _ someone around here that might know him, he wants to avoid being recognized. He’s not sure if he can put up the right front at the moment, not with his wrinkled clothes and mussed hair and the bags under his eyes that he knows are there even if he hasn’t looked at himself all day.

He does not stop to really take in his surroundings until he smells the salt on the air, and when he looks up, the sky is even darker. It’s hard to tell the sand from the sea as he steps onto the beach below Yumenosaki. He knows that if Kanata is looking out the club room window right now he’d be spotted, but he doesn’t care. The familiarity of the sea is calming, and it’s dark enough that even Kanata could be mistaken.

He takes a deep breath in. Lets it out. Takes another one. He’s about to take one more for good measure when something flickers in the corner of his eye. Lightning.

There is just enough time to think,  _ That’s not right _ , before the storm breaks above him. One moment he’s dry and eyeing the frothing sea, and the next, chilly spring rain is pouring down in sheets. He’s soaked instantly.

Kaoru can’t stop himself from shivering. Isn’t the rain supposed to be warmer this time of year? On instinct, he lifts his hands to shield his eyes. It’s then that he sees him. Mid turn, halfway through a step toward the edge of the beach, fully prepared to plod back home and await the phone call (and later, his father), something catches Kaoru’s eye again. Or rather, someone.

The boy is fighting his way through the storm too, hands up to cover his face. Kaoru can barely see through the cloud-dark sky and the rain, but he recognizes the vibrant blue of the Yumenosaki uniform. His stomach drops. A gust of wind practically blows the boy off his feet as he makes his own way back toward the road.

Lightning flashes again, and Kaoru makes out two more details. The student has long hair, tied into a ponytail that sticks to his back in the storm, and in addition to the regulation school bag on his shoulder, there is something else, sticking out above his head. Kaoru doesn’t need to get closer to recognize the shape. A sword bag. He knows exactly who is wandering around on the beach mere meters away from him. And for some ungodly reason, Kaoru calls out to him. Maybe it’s the current situation, maybe it’s a strange masochistic desire to get yelled at earlier than expected, maybe it’s something else entirely. But his timing was perfect and Kanzaki Souma looks up. Kaoru waves.

The second year makes his way over to Kaoru slowly and stops half a meter or so in front of him, regarding Kaoru warily. Kaoru does his best to smile. He’s sure it looks forced, but Souma isn’t the type to call him out on something like that. Probably.

“Nice weather we’re having!” he calls over the thunder.

“That’s not funny.”

“Eh, you’re no fun, Souma-kun~.”

“You skipped the club meeting today.”

“Actually I skipped school altogether. Accidentally.”

Souma raises an eyebrow in disbelief. Well, Kaoru can’t blame him there.

“I’m serious, really. I overslept. What about you? Why are you out here in the storm?”

Souma’s eyes narrow. “None of your business.”

So he doesn’t trust Kaoru with the answer. He can live with that.

“Fine. I know a drier place, let me show you at least.” As if to punctuate his words, lightning cracks above them and Souma jumps, which is apparently enough to convince him. He nods to Kaoru in a sort of  _ Lead the way _ gesture.

It’s a short walk across the beach, back the way Kaoru had come. He had missed the shack on his way there, but he’s been to the beach enough times in the past to know it’s there. He braces his shoulder against the door and shoves, almost stumbling as the door swings open and he enters the lifeguard shack.

Souma scuttles in behind him and Kaoru shuts the door against the incoming gust of wind and rain. The inside of the shack is dark, and made entirely of wood. The white paint is flaking off in several places, and the whole structure creaks with every step they take and every gust of wind. But it’s dry, and that’s all that matters.

Kaoru makes a pass around the perimeter, finding the storage cabinet by touch alone. He searches for the knob and twists it open, breathing a sigh of relief when he finds the spare towels exactly where they should be. He tosses one to Souma and takes another for himself, drying his hair as best he can for the moment. Souma eyes his towel for a moment before apparently resolving some internal conflict with himself. He drops his sword and bag and begins to dry himself as well.

“...How did you know about this?” he asks Kaoru, so quiet Kaoru almost misses the question over the patter of rain.

“The shack? I know all the lifeguards here,” Kaoru says simply. “I come to the beach a lot. On dates and… alone too, if I feel like it. Well, not as much now that I’m an idol, I guess…” He runs a hand through his hair and avoids looking at the other boy.

“And they won’t mind this?”

“Hm? Oh, not at all. They’ll do laundry when the beach is officially open again anyway.”

Souma doesn’t seem as confident in his answer as Kaoru is, but he must not consider the point worth arguing, and begins to squeeze the water out of the fabric sword bag. Kaoru watches in thinly veiled curiosity.

“You care about that thing a lot.”

“It is a precious heirloom.”

“Oh.” Kaoru leans against the wall and lets himself slide down into a sitting position. After a couple minutes of his best effort at drying his various pieces of luggage, Souma joins Kaoru on the floor, leaving space between them and refusing to look directly at the third year. Neither of them keeps track of how long they stay there, exactly like that, listening to the rain beat against the roof and the creaking of the shack, but if Kaoru had to guess, he’d say almost an hour passes before Souma speaks again.

“The rain is letting up.” He’s right. The thunder, when it comes, sounds far off, and the rain has slowed to a drizzle. It gives off a gentle hum as it hits the roof now.

“Guess we can leave then.” Kaoru is careful to keep his tone light, but something about it must show because Souma glances at him out of the corner of his eye.

“Yes… we should go home. It’s late.”

“Right…” Kaoru mutters. He stands up and folds his towel carefully, then holds out a hand to Souma, looking expectant until Souma hands his own over. When both towels are folded, Kaoru places them on the empty shelf at the bottom of the cabinet and closes the door again. By the time Souma pulls the wedged door open, the storm is over, although the clouds still hang above them, the threat of rain present along with the smell.

Souma looks behind him as Kaoru follows him out. He hangs back, hesitant to just leave even though the opportunity is before him.

_ Is he waiting for something? _ Kaoru thinks.  _ What does he expect from  _ me  _ of all people? _

Kaoru says nothing and the silence becomes awkward. Finally, Souma speaks. “Well, I have to go this way, so…” he trails off, jerking his head in the direction he’d been going originally, before the storm had started.

“Oh, yeah,” Kaoru nods in acknowledgement, forcing the amiable grin back onto his face. “I’m headed the other way, so see you around, Souma-kun~.”

Souma looks doubtful, but he turns around anyway and sets off for the road. Kaoru watches him mount the hill and disappear before turning around himself, following the edge of the water until he too has to climb the hill and follow the street.

The setting sun burns the sky orange behind the clouds, blanketing the world below in dusky gray light. The after work crowds make the shopping district downtown a whole new place compared to earlier that day. Kaoru merges with them gratefully, fading into the background, becoming just another face in the crowd. Becoming no one.

He follows his path from earlier that day, peeking into windows of the now-busy cafes, eyeing the friends there for a snack and the couples there on dates. He steps past stores, glances at salespeople as they smile and gesture and run through their spiels. He passes through arcades, watching middle schoolers and high schoolers alike crowd around game machines and cheer their friends on. But eventually he reaches the end; the only path left to follow goes up toward his neighborhood. He thinks of his siblings, probably already at home studying or preparing dinner.

He turns around and takes a left down an alley.

The part of town he emerges in has a different atmosphere. The streetlamps are on now, and in their glow he sees older people than those in the shopping district. Hopeless, inebriated college students, throwing their studies to the wind, bar hop among the burnouts, giggling rising above the hum of the crowd. Kaoru weaves through the crowd steadily, eyes forward instead of on the stooped shoulders of the angry, exhausted people around him. He doesn’t know what he’ll see if he looks too close.

A fight breaks out behind him. He hears the familiar cursing, the scuffing of shoes against the pavement, the yelled insults wielded as shields, not weapons. He picks up the pace, his skin crawling, and doesn’t slow down until, two more turns later, he finds himself in an unfamiliar residential part of town. The houses are large and old-looking, but there are some more recently built houses interspersed, and he spots a convenience store on the corner ahead of him.

He heads toward it, intending merely to ask for directions, since he hadn’t thought to grab his wallet when he’d run this morning (much to his empty stomach’s chagrin). As he approaches, the automatic door slides open and someone steps out. He almost doesn’t recognize him without the school uniform and the sword, but then he turns toward Kaoru and both of them freeze, staring at each other in the street.

“Hakaze-dono?!”

“...Souma-kun.”

Souma’s eyebrows draw together and he takes a step closer, head barely tilted to the side. “Why are you here?”

“Ah well…” Kaoru looks up to avoid Souma’s gaze and notices that the clouds are gone. The night sky is a deep blue, like velvet, dotted like glitter by tiny, far-off stars. “I just sort of got lost. I guess.”

“You guess,” Souma repeats. Kaoru casts a quick glance at the second year when suddenly, understanding dawns in his eyes. Kaoru quickly looks away again, focusing on a missing board in the fence of a house to his right.

“You did not go home at all earlier, did you, Hakaze-dono?”

“You sound like you already know the answer so I don’t know why you’re asking, Souma-kun,” Kaoru says. He successfully avoids giving an actual answer, but there’s an edge to his voice that he recognizes too well.

“Why didn’t you?” Souma’s second question is much quieter than the first.

The air around him feels charged, like one wrong word could send up sparks and set them both off. They are teetering on a highwire, one step away from falling, from shattering.

Kaoru scuffs the tip of a shoe against the pavement, pursing his lips. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does,” Souma insists. He crosses his arms, which almost makes Kaoru laugh. He looks like a pouting little kid. “Your family must be worried about y–”

“Mm, yeah, no,” Kaoru interrupts. “Don’t butt in, Souma-kun.” He makes like he’s going to barge forward, past Souma and farther into the neighborhood, but he grabs a hold of Kaoru’s arm and yanks him back.

“Answer my question.”

Kaoru huffs and glares. He can’t believe he’s having this conversation with  _ Souma  _ of all people. He didn’t think Souma even  _ cared _ about anything relating to him. “Why do you care?” he blurts out. “Isn’t it unlike you, to expend so much energy on the Disgrace of the Marine Life Club?”

Something in Souma’s expression shifts, and he releases Kaoru’s arm. “You’re right.” His voice is cold and his movements are stiff. “Pretend I didn’t say anything.” He turns away from Kaoru and takes two steps forward before stopping and turning back around.

“Coward.”

“Excuse me?!” Kaoru sputters.

Souma raises his eyebrows. “You heard me, Hakaze-dono. Coward. Disgrace. What else would I call you, when you avoid your problems and shut everyone around you out?”

Kaoru can almost see the sparks falling from Souma’s lips with the words, and before he knows it, the highwire has gone up in flames. He is engulfed and falling, and Souma doesn’t see a thing.

“What could you possibly know about me or my problems?” Kaoru spits out. There are flames crawling up his spine and into his brain. Souma is glaring back at him, but it only makes his fingers twitch. Here he is, on this street in the middle of town, completely and utterly lost, and Kaoru feels totally at home. He rocks back and forth from his heels to the balls of his feet and breathes through his nose. For a moment, his vision blurs and it is not Souma standing in front of him but his father, but he blinks and the image is gone. But it doesn’t really matter who stands across from him, because Kaoru can fight anyway. It’s what he’s always done.

“Nothing,” Souma snaps. “Because you never  _ talk _ . But it’s obvious to everyone around you, you know, this act of yours. No one as flaky as you would ever make it three years in Yumenosaki unless it’s an act.” He takes two steps forward to bring himself back to their earlier positions and leans in until they’re almost nose to nose. “So you’re running.”

Kaoru runs both hands through his hair and pulls with a sigh. “So what, Souma-kun? ‘Yes, I’m running away.”  _ No. _ “I avoid going home because my mother is dead and I fight with my father every day while my siblings stand by and watch.”  _ Shut up! “ _ I avoid practice because I’m afraid of disappointing people, and I avoid club meetings because the only thing I can think about is that one day you and Kanata-kun will be gone too.’”  _ Stop talking, you idiot! _ “Is that what you want to hear? Are you happy now?” He spreads his arms as he drops them to his sides, but immediately after he brings his right arm up to scrub at his eyes. They’re prickling, but dry.

He drops his arm again, but he can’t stand still. Something about the rush of words had released  _ something _ inside him, a torrent of anxiety he thought he’d locked away. He taps his fingers against the side of his leg, rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet, looks anywhere but at Souma. Because Souma is the opposite, Souma is frozen, pale, shellshocked. Kaoru can almost see the gears in his mind turning, clicking into place, as he processes everything Kaoru had dumped on the concrete between them.

Kaoru has created a divide, an unbreachable expanse between them now. He watches Souma open and close his mouth across it, still at a loss for words. All he does is stare mutely at Kaoru, eyes wide.  _ I’m really an idiot. _ He turns to leave.

“Where are you going?” When Souma speaks, it’s almost inaudible. Kaoru probably wouldn’t have heard him if he hadn’t been focusing on him already.

“Home,” Kaoru snaps, without turning around or stopping.

“I thought you were lost.” That makes Kaoru stop.

“And?”

“You said you were avoiding your home.”

“Well it’s not like I have many other options, you know.” Souma opens his mouth again, but Kaoru cuts him off. “Let it go, Souma-kun. I never should’ve opened my mouth in the first place, so pretend this conversation never happened why don’t you? You don’t want to be associated with me anyway, so it works just fine, right?”

“No it does not! How can you blurt something out like that and expect me to ignore it!” Souma’s frowns at him.

Kaoru shrugs. “The same way you always do?”

Souma rakes a hand through his hair in frustration, pulling the ponytail holder free and letting his hair fall loose around his shoulders. “Hakaze-dono, you are an idiot.” When his words don’t get a reaction, he glares at Kaoru. “That’s not the way you want to go.”

The topic change is only slightly jarring. The hand Souma holds out to him, across the space between them loaded with words he can’t take back, is more so. Kaoru looks between the offered hand and the strangely determined gaze of the other boy.

“Knowing you, you’ll be lost all night. My house is closer.”

“Knowing me, huh…” Kaoru’s voice sounds hollow, even to his own ears. But the familiar banter makes the space between them seem so much smaller. “You really want a disgrace staying in your home?”

Souma’s lips twitch up into the barest hint of a smile. “I cannot, in good faith, leave you here to die, no matter how annoying a man you are.”

Kaoru fishes his phone from his pocket to check the time. The screen is black. Dead. He glances from the blank screen to Souma, then back to the screen. Thinks.

He steps forward, and the feeling of the highwire is back. But Kaoru doesn’t feel like he’ll fall this time. “Okay,” he agrees. “I’ll need to borrow your phone. I have a call to make.”

Souma hands his phone over without complaint as they begin to walk, half a step ahead of Kaoru to lead the way. He is silent while Kaoru speaks with his sister, and stays that way as he accepts his phone from Kaoru and continues on. But Kaoru notices the way Souma keeps glancing at him out of the corner of his eye when he thinks Kaoru isn’t looking. It’s… strange.

True to his words, Souma’s house is much, much closer. They reach it within five minutes.

It’s a modest, old fashioned house. Something about it makes Kaoru relax in a way seeing his own home doesn’t. Souma ushers him through the front door without a word.

“I’m home,” Souma calls toward the back of the house as he slips off his shoes. Kaoru follows suit with a slightly quieter “Pardon the intrusion…” He moves out of the entryway and into a short hallway. To his right, a staircase leads to the second floor, and to the left of that, a short hallway lined with closed doors leads to the back of the house. He’s trying to peek up the stairs when one of the doors closest to them opens, and a middle school aged boy pokes his head out of it.

“Welcome back. That took a long time, Nii-san–” he falls silent when he sees Kaoru. “Who’s that?” The boy is staring openly. It takes all of Kaoru’s willpower not to step back. The boy’s eyes, so like Souma’s, are boring into him. He wants to cringe when a voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like Izumi reminds him of how bad he probably looks right now, with his wrinkled clothes and messy hair. So he shifts the attention.

“Nii-san, huh? Souma-kun really struck me as a younger brother type… shocking.”

Both Kanzaki boys turn to him, laughter in the younger one’s eyes, exasperation in the older’s.

Completely ignoring Kaoru’s words, Souma nudges him toward the stairs, calling over his shoulder as he does so, “He’s a member of the same club as me at school. He’s staying over for the night.”

“Really? Wow, my brother never brings friends over,” the boy says, turning to Kaoru. He looks somewhat impressed. “You must be special.”

“He’s not,” Souma snaps quickly. “Just stupid enough to get lost in his own hometown.”

“Hey, I’m right here.”

Souma’s younger brother snorts and closes the door again, leaving them to make their way around the house. Souma leaves Kaoru by the stairs for a few moments and returns without his convenience store bag. It had never occurred to Kaoru to ask what was in it, but he hopes it’s not ice cream. He’d feel bad about that. Next, Souma starts up the stairs, Kaoru one step behind him. They climb in silence except for the creak of a stair halfway up.

Souma stops at the top of the stairs, forcing Kaoru to stop one step short and peer around his shoulder.

“Mother,” Souma says with a respectful nod.

“Who’s your friend, Souma?” Her voice is kind. Dark hair, easily as long or longer than her eldest son’s, is pulled up into a messy bun, with a few stray pieces framing a serene face. She’s dressed comfortably, in sweats and a long sleeved shirt, and that’s the only real shock to Kaoru. He’d expected everyone in the Kanzaki family to be as stringent as Souma when it came to attire, but maybe it’s just a Souma thing.

“He’s a fellow member of the Marine Life Club. He said he was lost, so I offered to let him stay here…” She smiles.

“Well then, welcome…”

“Hakaze Kaoru,” Kaoru supplies.

“Welcome, Hakaze-kun.” She eyes Kaoru for a moment, looking him up and down in a way similar to that of Souma’s younger brother earlier, then seems to come to a decision. “You’re taller than Souma. Do you need to borrow some clothes? I’m sure my husband won’t mind.”

“Ah, really, I can manage just fine, you don’t have to!” Kaoru puts his hands up, trying to look confident and reassuring. He glances at Souma momentarily, but the boy seems shocked, and he’s moving slow.

“No, no, it’s no trouble at all. You’re a guest after all.” Her smile seems to have an edge that wasn’t there before, but maybe it’s just Kaoru’s imagination. Either way, he says nothing as she marches down the hall and disappears through the last door. When she’s gone, he shares a glance with Souma.

“She likes you,” he mutters in disbelief. “How?”

“Maybe I’m a likeable person, did you think of that?”

The face Souma makes at him is unimpressed, like usual. “Please do not say anything weird to my mother, or I will kick you back onto the streets and let you wander until dawn.”

Kaoru puts a hand on his chest, faking injury. “I would never. Souma-kun, do you have any faith in me?”

“No.”

Just then, Souma’s mother reappears with a small pile of clothing in her arms. This she deposits in Kaoru’s own arms, hastily lifted to avoid a spill.

“If you need anything, just let us know, Hakaze-kun. Souma, be nice to him, okay?” She musses Souma’s hair as she breezes past them and down the stairs, making Souma sputter and blush. They remain there for a few more heartbeats before Souma gets his face under control and continues marching down the hallway. He stops before a door halfway down the hall, and pushes it open. Kaoru trails behind.

As he follows Souma’s quiet orders as they ready the room, a different kind of silence falls over them. It feels just as loaded as the one that fell when on the way here, but it’s comfortable now. It feels natural, as they push furniture aside and lay out futons and change clothes. Here in this unfamiliar house, Kaoru feels like he’s been doing this his whole life. And the fact that it’s Souma across the room from him… well, it doesn’t feel weird. Which in and of itself should be weird, but it isn’t either.

Kaoru shoves his thoughts to the side as Souma turns out the lights and settles into the futon next to him. It’s peaceful here in the dark, in an unfamiliar futon in an unfamiliar house. He breathes out, and lets his eyes flutter shut, but does not sleep, not yet. He revels in this peace.

“Hakaze-dono?” Souma’s voice is lower than a whisper.

“Mm?”

“About earlier… I am sorry.”

“What for?” Kaoru asks. He surprises himself with how level his voice is.

“I… pushed too hard. What you told me–”

“Doesn’t matter,” Kaoru sighs. He opens his eyes and casts a rueful smile at the ceiling, knowing Souma can’t see him in the dark. “Just don’t spill all my secrets, ‘Kay, Souma-kun?”

“...Okay.”

His eyes close and his breathing slows again. With his last ounce of energy, Kaoru reaches from his own futon across the floor to Souma’s and finds his hand, closed into an up facing fist, just like he’d expected. Souma startles when Kaoru’s hand covers his.

“Don’t think about it,” Kaoru whispers. “Just breathe. That’s what I do.”

He feels Souma’s hand relax and open under his own, and feels him twine their fingers together and give a small squeeze as sleep finally overtakes him.  _ It’s nice _ , is Kaoru’s final thought.

He wonders if they’ll wake up like that too.

**Author's Note:**

> im on twitter @STORMLlGHT please come talk to me about kaosou i know Four Whole Shippers


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